HD Picture quality as of late.

[Sean Mota]

He tells you at the website how it was collected. His name Steve Martin's and he is a ISF certified technician.

"Bit rates were calculated based on file sizes recorded by an HD Tivo. I'm very confident these numbers are accurate as I compared them to analysis of a recording of an OTA sample on DVHS and using TSReader Lite to analyze the resulting transport stream. The bitrates for the video and audio streams add up to what I'm computing. If you are interested in the math behind computing the bitrates, I've detailed it in a Blog Entry"

 

[rockaway1836]

Sean, I am not arguing the experience that you are having. And again I can't compare DA to AE. My OTA reception if fine at both locations. At home CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC, UPON, and BA are 93 - 100% NET comes in at 69%. At the club I am seeing signals in the 90sa as well. The only exception here is that I am unable to get NET there, but am able to get WNJN which I can't get from my home without a rotor. I have read on this and other boards of people complaining of sound being out of sync and video dropouts on Discovery HD. That is not and has not been happening to me. There must be some explanation as to why our two experiences differ so. Especially when you consider we live quite close by to one another, and one would think we should be seeing the same thing.

 

[Sean Mota]

Sean, I am not arguing the experience that you are having. And again I can't compare DA to AE. My OTA reception if fine at both locations. At home CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC, UPON, and BA are 93 - 100% NET comes in at 69%. At the club I am seeing signals in the 90sa as well. The only exception here is that I am unable to get NET there, but am able to get WNJN which I can't get from my home without a rotor. I have read on this and other boards of people complaining of sound being out of sync and video dropouts on Discovery HD. That is not and has not been happening to me. There must be some explanation as to why our two experiences differ so. Especially when you consider we live quite close by to one another, and one would think we should be seeing the same thing.

That is fine if you want to say that your local HD look the same way as your local hd through DirecTv. I won't argue with that because it is on a case by case basis. That still does not explain the way HBO HD, Showtime HD and HDnet movies look.

 

[rockaway1836]

As I said before, I'm not nuts about movies on any channel. For that matter, take a show like Everybody Loves Raymond on CBS. There is just not the eye popping quality that I see on a show like HDNET World Report. Then there are shows like PBS's DNA which I have just finished watching on 13-1. The PQ was so good I could see the actual fibers sticking out of a guys suit jacket. HBO does boxing matches in HD and the little I have been able to see of them, I see much better PQ than I do while watching a movie. I will give you however that what I have seen on HBO doesn't come close to what I have seen when watching Boxing on HDN. BTW Womens Beach Volley Ball on HDN is rapidly gaining a fan base at the club! lol

 

[guffy1]

Sean, you are talking to a brick wall when it comes to attempting to make people understand these issues...

The fact is that most viewers are happy as long as it looks better than standard definition..

They dont put any time or effort into noticing how much crap D* is actually feeding us, if its better than SD its "stunning" to them..

These people never had Directv 5 years ago when the PQ would just blow you away..

They see what they see now, and even though its been degraded 10x over form what it was 5 years ago they think its just "stunning"..

You hear lame comments all the time form the average Joe6pack, my favorite one being:

"I dont see how it could get any better"!

These are the same people that will go into a nice resteraunt and order a 16$ sizzler steak instead of the 18$ tenderloin..

They just dont care, they will settle for crap and love it every time, they have no appreciation for the finer things in life...

The crap seems just as good as the finer things to them, and it will never change..

It is Joe6Pack at work, and Joe6Pack will never go away..

 

[forklifter]

I watched The Chiefs in HD on my infocus 4805 and the picture was fantastic I wish I could watch all their games in HD

 

[Sean Mota]

rockaway1836,

well that is your prefrerence not to watch the HD channels that have the worst PQ on DirecTv. But not everyone is you and not everyone is happy that great channels like HBO HD (which shows Cinematic movies and series like Rome, the Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Carnivale, etc) and Showtime HD (which show cinematic movies plus series such as Weeds, Huff, Dead Like Me, etc) and HDnet Movies that show stunning cinematic movies in E* get the bad treatment or the worse PQ. That is not right!

It is not right... It is not right that in my case I have to subscribe to Showtime and HBO to another subscriber because I am getting subpar quality from DirecTv. It is not right that I have watch HDnet Movies on E* because I am getting subpar quality on DirecTv. I am sure I am not the only one that watches HBO HD, Showtime HD and HDnet Movies. This is the problem. When DirecTv decides to fix this problem without affecting the other channels, then I will praise them and say WOW!!!! In the meantime they are a mediocre provider that cannot compete at the same the level with Dish Network on HD quality. Very simple.

 

[rockaway1836]

I refer you to post #33. http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?p=411429#post411429 It seems that you are new to D not the seasoned veteran that you claim. I have been a D sub for over 10 years while only switching over to HiDef 2 years ago. I have been putting antennas on roof tops (on and off now ) for about 40 years. As well as installing D dishes from the onset. Please do not talk down to the rest of as as if you were a member of some kind of Digital Taliban. BTW I don't like steak I like lobster.

 

[Sean Mota]

I refer you to post #33. http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?p=411429#post411429 It seems that you are new to D not the seasoned veteran that you claim. I have been a D sub for over 10 years while only switching over to HiDef 2 years ago. I have been putting antennas on roof tops (on and off now ) for about 40 years. As well as installing D dishes from the onset. Please do not talk down to the rest of as as if you were a member of some kind of Digital Taliban. BTW I don't like steak I like lobster.

Man you have some nerve..... No wonder you are defending DirecTv so much it is your bread and butter. I don't work for DirecTv or any provider. I am just paid to watch it. I do not care one way or the other. Yes, you are right I am new to DirecTv but not new to High Definition Programming. Big difference!!!! Because I am new to DirecTv I cannot comment on their HD channels, is that the logic that should be followed. Great logic.... Very questionable logic, indeed...

This is the problem with DirecTv installers... Instead of complaining to fix the problem, they think it is better to hide the problem and let it fly like you will never notice. Now rockway1836 if you pay my bill every month I will shut up and stay quiet in the meantime I will continue explaining to people how bad the situation is and hope that someone will notice and do something about it. It does not benefit anyone to conceal the informationi and hide it and try to dress it like nothing is happening. THAT IS JUST PLAIN WRONG IN MY BOOK.

 

[guffy1]

I refer you to post #33. http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?p=411429#post411429 It seems that you are new to D not the seasoned veteran that you claim. I have been a D sub for over 10 years while only switching over to HiDef 2 years ago. I have been putting antennas on roof tops (on and off now ) for about 40 years. As well as installing D dishes from the onset. Please do not talk down to the rest of as as if you were a member of some kind of Digital Taliban. BTW I don't like steak I like lobster.

I never claimed to be a seasoned veteran of any sort..

Just because I did not personally sub to D* 5 years ago dosent mean a thing..

I know what it looked like, I saw it with my own eyes, many many times..

And there are also countless #'s of threads here and over at AVS that cover what I am talking about...

Anyone thats been paying attention knows it was 10x better 5 years ago, and 10x better is not being used as a figure of speech, it is being used in the 100% literal sense...

You are the opitamy of Joe6Pack my friend, I dont care how many sytems you hacve installed...

Most installers Ive ever dealt with have been lacking in any kind of HDTV knowledge whatsoever, so I wouldnt be bragging about that at all..

 

[rockaway1836]

No Sean, I don't work for D and never have. The installs I do are for friends at no charge. I imagine that will change when the new dishes come out. It's my understanding that we will have to submit to D installers. (hope not though) In fact I have had to go and re-do more than one of their installs. As to your points on HBO. I didn't say I don't watch it. I said that movies and TV series on all channels don't blow me away as things that are shot in HD for HD broadcast do. My experience doing antennas began when I was about 10 years old. Helping my dad make money when he was out on strike from the newspaper indusrty. We lived above a TV repair shop and my dad would work there fixing TVs and doing installs while on strike. Back in the 60s it seemed like all the time. I know that you know my previous post was not directed at you. It's just that people should not assume that they know what other people experience. I try not to do that in my posts and would expect the same of others.

 

[Sean Mota]

I apologize if I was rude. I am giving the benefit of the doubt to DirecTv that they will fix this problem with the extra bandwith they are planning to have. But if that is not the case within a year of my contract, I will probably drop them and sell the equipment.

I am not a football fanatic so I don't need any more football games than the ones I get OTA. I am a baseball fanatic but that is not exclusive to DirecTv (thank god).

There is a problem with certain HD channels (the ones previously mentioned) on DirecTv (not all). If the trend continues, then we (the consumer) are to blame for letting a provider get away with giving us less than we are paying for. This is the same argument as not turning on the switch on the YES HD game the other day. We paid for it whether it is your RSN or you pay for MLB EI. You expect to sit down and watch that game when you go home. You have a problem if the game is not available because some idiot decided that Football was more important than the Red Sox vs Yankees game in HD. That is purely wrong!!!! The same can be applied to PQ on HD channels. When you sit down to watch a program you want to be able to watch the best possible PQ. It does not matter whether it is a sitcom, movie or an sport event. The fact that DirecTv is hindering your entertainment by not providing the best possible PQ again is wrong!!! since you are paying for it.

In the end DirecTv ends up with a big smile on their face and we the consumers lose. If I pay for DirecTv, I want the HD channels to be at its best. Everyone who pays for these channels have a right to ask for the best PQ. I do not want to know that another channel is getting better PQ than the one I am watching. I want my channel to have the best possible HD. There is no easy way out of this for DirecTv. They need to deliver the best possible PQ. PQ deliver at the level of HBO HD, Showtime HD and HDnet movies is not the best possible way. The observation supports it from various customers here in this forum and other forums. The data supports the observations in the links provided before.

We need to get off the complicency chair and ask for better PQ. If not, then the WAR against PQ is lost and all of those will win who ask for more channels. As far as I am concerned if that is the case, I will drop them immediately. I refuse to watch 480p HD channels.

 

[rockaway1836]

Hey, if the PQ can improve, I'm all for it. Fios is just around the corner. So you may have a viable alternative in the not too distant future. I'm with you on the Yankee games. Has anyone gotten any official word from D as to what happened on Sunday? I'm of the opinion that someone fell asleep at the switch over there. Only because it's not the first time it happened.

 

[vurbano]

I agree with Sean even though I havent read the entire thread. Directv needs to improve PQ as well as add more HD channels with their new sats and mpeg4. It is currently the worst HD Ive seen. Frankly its a disgrace to high definition to even call it that. But what really pisses me off is how the D* denders arguement immediately go into "this PQ is OK because D* is a successful business model" or "The HD sub numbers arent high enough yet to matter".

 

[dfergie]

I have both D* and E* Hd... I have a Replay box hooked to the D* receiver to record downrezzed Hd... sometimes it is hard to tell if I am watching directly thru from the D* (1080i)box or via Replay(480p)...

 

[FlyingJ]

Play nice boys. Hey Sean, just to let you know....half the reason I get on this site is to hear qualified people such as yourself tell me about this stuff. I started the post to see if any of us that have been just furious about the PQ were seeing any changes like I believed I was. Yes I concentrate on the sports mostly, but honest to god, those live events have been the only thing I have seen , that to me are eye popping. I watch Prison Break, Fox Mondays, OTA and I really don't see any difference between what I am seeing there and on HBO through D. I will take your word for it that it is better on E* and then ask again if there is anything we can do about it. It does tork me that we are not getting what we are paying for with no mention from D*.

 

[dfergie]

I have had D* since 96 so I am in it for the long haul... just waiting patiently for improvements...

 

[Sady]

Disgrace is right

I agree with Sean even though I havent read the entire thread. Directv needs to improve PQ as well as add more HD channels with their new sats and mpeg4. It is currently the worst HD Ive seen. Frankly its a disgrace to high definition to even call it that. But what really pisses me off is how the D* denders arguement immediately go into "this PQ is OK because D* is a successful business model" or "The HD sub numbers arent high enough yet to matter".

Discovery HD looks terrible. I recently switched from Charter and I have to say that Charter HD blows Directv away. Discovery HD on Charter as well as others were incredible. I'm so ticked.

 

[ram1220]

Sean I'm glad to see you here posting about D's PQ. God I miss Voom! Since Voom went boom I've stayed with standard def. I keep reading the forums and just can't get myself to spend the money on a piddly amount of HD. Eventually I'll go with someone. But in the meantime I appreciate your honest observations.
I did have D's HD before Voom and I can tell you that back then it sucked. I guess right now I'm leaning more towards E but it's so hard to do until there is more HD out there.
A friend of mine just went with Comcast HD here in Plano, Texas. My God does it blow D away. As much as I hate cable companies if Comcast was available in my apartment complex I'd sign up right now. In fact I tried just that yesterday and was told they don't service my complex. So for now I'll keep watching SD and keep missing Voom. At least I still get OTA HD with my old Voom receiver.Thanks again Sean.

Bob

 

[billbillw]

He tells you at the website how it was collected. His name Steve Martin's and he is a ISF certified technician.

"Bit rates were calculated based on file sizes recorded by an HD Tivo. I'm very confident these numbers are accurate as I compared them to analysis of a recording of an OTA sample on DVHS and using TSReader Lite to analyze the resulting transport stream. The bitrates for the video and audio streams add up to what I'm computing. If you are interested in the math behind computing the bitrates, I've detailed it in a Blog Entry"

Sean,
I know how Cheezmo (Steve Martin) collects his data. I was asking you who is repsonsible for the data you linked that gives the bitrates for E*! Here:

In contrast take a look at Dish Network bitrates http://satelliteguys.us/bfg/dishhd.htm in this chart.

There is no explanation for that data. That is what I meant by comparing apples to apples.